Indonesia may come under international scrutiny as two former generals
alleged to be implicated in past human rights infringements are nominated
to contest presidential elections.

A possible setback to democracy is looming as Wiranto, a former general
under Soeharto’s dictatorship, has been announced as Jusuf Kalla’s -
the Golkar Party’s presidential candidate and incumbent vice president
­ running mate. The Golkar Party obtained the second largest number of
votes in the April’s legislative elections, controlling 108 seats in the
parliament.

Meanwhile, Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesia
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has picked another notorious retired
general, Prabowo Subianto, as her running mate for the July 8 presidential
elections. The PDI-P obtained the third largest number of votes and will
control around one sixth of the 560 parliamentary seats.

The July elections will pit popular candidate from the Democratic Party
and incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has picked noted
economist and Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono as his running mate,
against the other two pairs.

Bantarto Bandoro, the chairman of the Indonesian Institute for
Strategic Studies (IISS), said Indonesia had won international praise by
improving its rights records, after a period of battered credentials
caused by a string of rights incidents in the volatile provinces of Aceh
Nanggroe Darussalam, Papua and the former province of Timor Leste.

Western countries have recognized our ability to install democracy,
improve rights enforcement, fight extremism... and successfully hold
elections in a country of more than 200 million people,” Bantarto said.

However, the fact that military personnel still have a strong hold on
politics and immunity from the atrocities they committed in the past send
signals that we are still suffering from being a fledging democracy.
Democracy should imply the principle of enforcement of justice,” he
added.

Wiranto and Prabowo managed to build their political comebacks after
creating their own political parties. Wiranto founded the People’s
Conscience Party (Hanura), which obtained 3.8 percent of votes in the last
legislative elections. Prabowo, meanwhile, established the Great Indonesia
Movement Party (Gerindra), which gained 4.5 percent of votes.

Wiranto, as the supreme military commander from 1998 to 1999, was
accused of crimes against humanity in Timor Leste, which claimed the lives
of thousands leading up to and subsequent to the 1999 referendum that saw
locals opting for independence.

Although the atrocities have been considered as dealt with through
discussions involving both governments through the Commission of Truth and
Friendship, the UN has still sought to prosecute offenders.

Wiranto was also in command during the 1998 May riots, in which
thousands of men and women died on the streets of Jakarta.

Prabowo, former Army Special Force (Kopassus) commander, was accused of
the kidnapping and murder of anti-Soeharto activists during the 1998
turmoil.

Prabowo’s Gerindra deputy, Muchdi Purwoprandjono, former deputy
chairman of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), was put on trial for the
murder of human rights campaigner Munir, but was declared innocent last
January.

Neither Wiranto nor Prabowo have ever faced trial.

Their tickets to run for vice presidents are a claim to victory over
the struggle of rights activists and families of the victims... and a
major blow to the enforcement of human rights,” said Baskara Wardaya, a
history professor at University of Sanata Dharma in Yogyakarta.

Indonesia’s political clout in the international arena rose after
Soeharto’s 32-year dictatorship was toppled in a wave of demonstrations
held by university students in 1998.

Indonesia has been dubbed as the world’s third largest democracy
after the United States and India, having successfully held the first
direct presidential election in 2004. As a symbol of recognition, the
United States waived a military embargo in 2005, which had been in place
since 1991 over rights abuses in Timor Leste and Papua.

Indonesia, the biggest democracy in Southeast Asia, is expected to
spearhead a reform in human rights enforcement given its relatively
leading position in the regional ASEAN grouping in terms of democracy and
human rights, whilst other members of the ASEAN group have been trailing
behind in terms of lack of political will to pursue these objectives.

Although Yudhoyono’s popularity is soaring high above the other two
candidates’, the July presidential elections are still alarming
reformists, who see reform as crucial to drive investment and economic
growth amid the current global crisis.

Western countries will keep an eye on our elections to see how far we
can carry on with our reformist agenda.” said Hashim Djalal, a senior
diplomat.

Indonesia boasted about its successful democracy during US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton’s February visit to Indonesia, saying Jakarta was
“an example of a Muslim country where democracy prevailed”.

Analysts say Indonesia-US relations under Democrat President Barack
Obama will be largely shaped by democracy and human rights concerns given
the Democrats’ history of foreign intervention to enforce liberal
values.

Our diplomatic relations with foreign countries have been strengthened
because we managed to build our democracy and enforce human rights...and
such issues will continue to be a major concern for large countries like
the United States,” Hashim said.

However, Hashim added the need to reform was not dictated by
international interests, but was a mandate from the Indonesian people to
their next government.

--

The Jakarta Globe

May 20, 2009

Rights Groups Say Elections Tarnished

by Sunanda Creagh

Almost 40 human rights groups combined on Tuesday to claim Indonesia’s
reputation was being tarnished by the inclusion as vice presidential
candidates of two former generals accused of rights abuses during the era
of former strongman President Suharto.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is favored to win a second term in
the July 8 vote, but faces a challenge from Vice President Jusuf Kalla and
former President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Kalla is running with Wiranto, a retired general who has faced
allegations over abuses in East Timor when he was army chief.

Megawati is standing with Prabowo Subianto, another former general, who
was fired in 1998 after troops under his command abducted and tortured
pro-democracy activists.

The emergence of Prabowo and Wiranto as contestants in the 2009
presidential election highlights a weak commitment by our political actors
to uphold human rights,” said a statement from the group of rights
organizations.

The public must realize that to forget the crimes of the past will
allow the same crimes to be repeated in future.” Both men have denied
wrongdoing and said they were simply doing their duty as soldiers.

Wiranto was indicted by a UN panel over the bloodshed during Dili’s
1999 independence vote but never stood trial. He said last year the
episode had been resolved.

Prabowo, who is from a wealthy family and was once married to Suharto’s
daughter, told reporters in February his “conscience was clear” and
noted some of the tortured activists had even joined his Gerindra Party.

Arief Priyadi, whose son was killed in 1998 when the military under
Wiranto’s command at the time ­ opened fire on students protesting
against Suharto in Jakarta, said people should be careful with their
votes.

We, as a society, should be rejecting human rights abusers as
presidential or vice presidential candidates,” he said. “To accept
this is a step back for reform.”

The rights record of Yudhoyono, who was also a general during Suharto’s
New Order era, was also brought into question at a meeting organized by
the Coalition of Indonesian Human Rights Activists.

He was accused by some activists of neglecting human rights issues
because of his government’s handling of the mud volcano disaster that
displaced tens of thousands of people in Sidoarjo, East Java. The scandal
over the subsequent compensation payments has hurt the government’s
reputation.

Yudhoyono’s approval rating in a recent poll of 67 percent, compared
to 12 percent for Megawati and 2 percent for Kalla, makes it look almost
certain he will win a second term in office, bar some unexpected blow.